The aquifer provides nearly all of the water for residential, industrial, and agricultural uses in the High Plains region. Irrigated agriculture is particularly straining on the aquifer as the region is responsible for one-fifth of the wheat, corn, cotton, and cattle produced in the United States.

Who benefits from the Ogallala Aquifer?

It supports nearly one-fifth of the wheat, corn, cotton, and cattle produced in the United States. Crops provide grains and hay for confined feeding of cattle and hogs and for dairies. The cattle feedlots support a large meatpacking industry.

What states rely on the Ogallala Aquifer?

The Ogallala Aquifer underlies parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. From wheat and cows to corn and cotton, the regional economy depends almost exclusively on agriculture irrigated by Ogallala groundwater.

What is the majority of the Ogallala Aquifer used for?

The Ogallala Aquifer provides significantly more water for users than any other aquifer in the state. The availability of this water is critical to the economy of the region, as approximately 95 percent of groundwater pumped is used for irrigated agriculture.

What does the Ogallala Aquifer supply?

Natural Resources Conservation Service

Underlying the Great Plains in eight states, the Ogallala supports nearly one-fifth of the wheat, corn, cotton and cattle produced in the United States. It has long been the main water supply for the High Plains' population and is being used at an unsustainable rate.

The Ogallala Aquifer

Who discovered the Ogallala Aquifer?

Several types of surface sediments that accumulated during the Quaternary period (the last 1.6 million years of geologic history) were recognized in their reports. The Ogallala Formation of late Tertiary age was described first by Darton in some detail from study of the unit in western Nebraska.

What happened to the Ogallala Aquifer?

Today the Ogallala Aquifer is being depleted at an annual volume equivalent to 18 Colorado Rivers. Although precipitation and river systems are recharging a few parts of the northern aquifer, in most places nature cannot keep up with human demands.

How many people depend on the Ogallala aquifer?

The aquifer system supplies drinking water to 82% of the 2.3 million people (1990 census) who live within the boundaries of the High Plains study area.

What is the role of irrigation water from the Ogallala aquifer in Great Plains agriculture right now?

The aquifer provides nearly all of the water for residential, industrial, and agricultural uses in the High Plains region. Irrigated agriculture is particularly straining on the aquifer as the region is responsible for one-fifth of the wheat, corn, cotton, and cattle produced in the United States.

Is the Ogallala aquifer a renewable resource?

The Ogallala Aquifer is one of the largest aquifers in the world underlying parts of eight states in the United States. This aquifer is considered to be a non-renewable resource because of the low rate of natural recharge compared to the amount of groundwater extracted every year.

What happens to the US Midwest when the water's gone?

The well, wide enough to fall into, taps into the Ogallala aquifer, the immense underground freshwater basin that makes modern life possible in the dry states of Middle America. ...

What do you think is the current state of the Ogallala Aquifer?

The Ogallala Aquifer is being depleted at a rapid speed. Farming accounts for 94% of the groundwater use. In fact, since the introduction of large scale irrigation in the 1940's, water levels in the Ogallala Aquifer have declined over 100 feet in many parts, according to The Water Encyclopedia.

How depleted is the Ogallala Aquifer?

The Ogallala-High Plains Aquifer is one of the world's largest groundwater sources, extending from South Dakota down through the Texas Panhandle across portions of eight states. ... Within 50 years, the entire aquifer is expected be 70% depleted.

How do you think this Ogallala Aquifer is affected by human activity?

Increasing pressures on the Ogallala. New irrigation techniques/practices such as dryland farming affect crop quality and lead to loss in agriculture and economy and still are unable to achieve the desired levels of conservation. Potential loss of residential area as there will be no water left in the area.

How would conservation programs help the Ogallala Aquifer?

The conservation plans impact the aquifer by: • Implementing irrigation water management on 486 acres of cropland, • Improving irrigation efficiency for irrigation sprinkler systems, and • Providing a reliable water supply for 670 acres of rangeland resulting in improved water quality within the aquifer and reducing ...

What are people doing to save the Ogallala Aquifer?

Using less water can help save the Ogallala Aquifer. At the current rate of use, part of the Ogallala could be exhausted within this century and may take 6,000 years to restore. It is important to develop agricultural innovations to area farmers sustain agricultural production in that region.

How do farmers get water in the Great Plains?

Most Plains farmers apply water to their fields using either surface or sprinkler methods. The main form of surface irrigation is furrow, whereby furrows are plowed between crop rows along which water flows from a pipe with holes called gates.

Which of these are the main crops agriculture irrigated by Ogallala water?

The major irrigated crops are grain corn and wheat, accounting for about three-fourths of the total irrigated area.

What is special about the Ogallala Aquifer quizlet?

What is special about the Ogallala Aquifer? Located in the Midwestern United States, it is the world's largest aquifer and supports millions of acres of agriculture.

Why is the Ogallala Aquifer at risk quizlet?

The rate of extraction of water form the aquifer exceeds the recharge rate. Why is the Ogallala Aquifer at risk? ... Growing human populations rising water use will put pressure on finite supplies of water, especially in dry areas.

When did the practice of irrigation become popular?

Modern irrigation technology probably began with the Mormon settlement of the Utah Great Salt Lake Basin in 1847, and their eventual cultivation of nearly 2.5 million ha irrigated across the inter-mountain western U.S. by the turn of the century.

What puts the Ogallala Aquifer at risk?

Because of widespread irrigation, farming accounts for 94% of groundwater use — and use of the Ogallala. ... Irrigated ag forms the base of the regional economy, actually supporting nearly one-fifth of the wheat, corn, cotton, and cattle produced in the U.S.

What happens when the massive Ogallala Aquifer becomes depleted?

Due to agricultural pumping and resulting depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer, the White River no longer maintains a spring-fed base flow and, today, Silver Falls is often dry and overgrown with vegetation.

What caused the Ogallala Aquifer?

Over millions of years, the sediment filled and covered the dips and slopes of the land, forming the flat land now known as the Great Plains. The porous sediment layers in these ancient valleys form the Ogallala Aquifer.

Are there aquifers under the Sahara?

The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) is the world's largest known fossil water aquifer system. It is located underground in the Eastern end of the Sahara Desert and spans the political boundaries of four countries in north-eastern Africa. ... This system is primarily used to supply water in the Kufra oasis.